All posts tagged Tokyo Motor Show

Painted with 86 stripes in 24 colors, Paul Smith’s eye-popping, one-of-a-kind Mini Cooper has been turning heads since it was unveiled at the 1997 Tokyo Motor Show. Now, it’s back in Asia, where it’s on display at the Hilton Singapore until April 20.

A decidedly British crossover between fashion and automobiles, the Paul Smith Mini Cooper has toured the West Coast of the U.S. and graced Dubai’s Paul Smith store for its 10th anniversary last year. Its Singapore stop follows an appearance in Bangkok last month, and is the last chance to catch the car in Asia before it heads back to the U.K.

In the world of Japan’s mini “kei” cars, Suzuki Motor and Daihatsu Motor are giants. These rides have small engines— displacements of 660cc or less—and lower tax rates than regular cars and are the in-town choice of many Japanese housewives.

They are also taking a larger chunk of the otherwise shrinking Japanese car market, thanks in part to being very fuel efficient and cheaper to buy and own.

While many think the Lexus LS 600 is the top sedan in Toyota Motor Corp.’s line-up, it is neither the most expensive nor the flagship model of the Japanese automaker. That distinction belongs to the Toyota Century a limited-production stretch saloon with classic styling that belies the powerful V-12 engine under its black lacquer bonnet.

First debuted in 1967, the modern day chariot for Japanese royalty and captains of industry has not undergone a full model change since 1997.

But there’s a stir in the rarefied air of Toyota affiliate Kanto Auto Works Ltd., whose veteran workers assemble the Century at a factory in Shizuoka prefecture near Mt. Fuji.

At the 42nd annual Tokyo Motor Show, which opened Saturday to the general public, hundreds of vehicles are competing for attention at dozens of auto maker booths. But two compact sports cars stood out from the crowd: the Toyota 86 and the Subaru BRZ. The pair of vehicles, which look nearly identical save for their brand badges and slightly different-shaped front grills, have similarities that are more than skin deep. In fact, they are the same car.

You wouldn’t know it from the buzz ahead of this weekend’s Tokyo Motor Show, but Japan has fallen out of love with cars.

The country’s domestic auto sales have fallen in eight of the past 10 years. Demographics are part of the reason—the population is shrinking while more people are living in cities and riding public transit. Owners are also holding on to their rides longer: over the past decade, the average length of ownership has risen almost a year to 6.6 years because of more durable cars and slower wage growth, according to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.

Electric vehicles were on the lips of nearly every chief executive at the Tokyo Motor Show on Wednesday as they touted their future visions of the automotive industry.

Carlos Ghosn of Nissan Motor Co. declared that his company’s Leaf, currently the best-selling electric vehicle, is just the beginning of more promising vehicles to come. Later, Honda Motor Co. CEO Takanobu Ito espoused a company aim to help create a “zero society” with drastically reduced CO2 emissions, thanks in part to electric cars.

But then there was Akio Toyoda, the head of Toyota Motor Corp. “Personally, I love the smell of gasoline and the sound of the engine,” he declared, “so I hope this kind of vehicle never disappears.”

International auto shows have distinct personalities they have honed for years. Paris has style and Frankfurt has precision while horsepower is Detroit’s currency of choice. Geneva’s still the alpha dog of shows and has the fashion and flash to prove it.

But over the past few decades, if you really wanted to see the future — or the most varied and interesting interpretations of it – and could attend only one show, Tokyo was the clear choice. Japan’s premier auto extravaganza has long been a showcase for leading-edge technology and design. But it also focuses on the Asian market, where consumers tend to define transportation differently than in the West. As a result, the concept vehicles in Tokyo are often big departures from what we see on the road today.

Toyota Motor has got problems, but being uncool isn’t one of them, yet.

Ahead of the Tokyo Motor Show, which opens to the public this weekend, the company has unveiled a new sports car—its first since the MRS/MR2 ended production in 2007—and a marketing campaign promising its cars will be “Fun to Drive, Again.”

The graying of its customers is an issue for Toyota. With a median age of 56, its U.S. buyers are older than those at rivals like Volkswagen (51) and Honda Motor (55), according to J.D. Power & Associates. The Japanese auto maker would benefit from attracting new buyers as well as old ones.

The car maker says the Cross Coupe, which seats four and has a plug-in hybrid drive train, is the result of designers’ efforts to combine qualities of a four-door coupe and a compact SUV. The vehicle is 171.1 inches long overall, which makes it a bit longer than the Volkswagen Golf but shorter than the company’s Tiguan compact crossover.

It is the first vehicle based on what Volkswagen calls its modular transverse matrix, or MQB platform.